THE
STORY OF THE PROPHET SHU'AYB (AS)
The Prophet Shu'ayb (as) Was Sent to
Madyan As a Messenger
And to Madyan We sent their brother Shu'ayb who said,
'My people, worship Allah! You have no other god than Him. A Clear Sign
has come to you from your Lord. Give full measure and full weight. Do
not diminish people's goods. Do not cause corruption in the land after
it has been put right. That is better for you if you are believers. (Surat
al-A'raf, 85)
And to Madyan We sent their brother Shu'ayb, he said,
'My people, worship Allah and look to the Last Day and do not act unjustly
on earth, corrupting it.' (Surat al-'Ankabut, 36)
And to Madyan their brother Shu'ayb. He said, 'My people,
worship Allah! You have no god apart from Him. Do not give short measure
and short weight. I see you prospering and I fear for you the punishment
of an all-encompassing Day. (Surah Hud, 84)
The Prophet Shu'ayb (as) Called His People to Religion
And to Madyan We sent their brother Shu'ayb who said, 'My people, worship
Allah! You have no other god than Him. A Clear Sign has come to you from
your Lord. Give full measure and full weight. Do not diminish people's
goods. Do not cause corruption in the land after it has been put right.
That is better for you if you are believers. Do not lie in wait on every
pathway, threatening people, barring those who believe from the Way of
Allah, desiring to make it crooked. Remember when you were few and He
increased your number: see the final fate of the corrupters! (Surat al-A'raf,
85-86)
The Prophet Shu'ayb's (as) Efforts to Correct
Corrupt Practices in Trading
And to Madyan We sent their brother Shu'ayb who said,
'My people, worship Allah! You have no other god than Him. A Clear Sign
has come to you from your Lord. Give full measure and full weight. Do
not diminish people's goods. Do not cause corruption in the land after
it has been put right. That is better for you if you are believers. (Surat
al-A'raf, 85)
And to Madyan their brother Shu'ayb. He said, 'My people,
worship Allah! You have no god apart from Him. Do not give short measure
and short weight. I see you prospering and I fear for you the punishment
of an all-encompassing Day. My people! Give full measure and full weight
with justice; do not diminish people's goods; and do not go about the
earth, corrupting it. What endures with Allah is better for you if you
are believers. I am not set over you as your keeper.' (Surah Hud, 84-86)
The People of Madyan Ridicule the Prophet Shu'ayb (as)
They said, 'Shu'ayb, do your prayers instruct you that we should abandon
what our fathers worshipped or stop doing whatever we want to with our
wealth? You are clearly the forbearing, the rightly-guided!' (Surah Hud,
87)
The Prophet Shu'ayb's (as) Persistence in Communicating
the Message of Religion
He said, 'My people! What do you think? If I do possess a Clear Sign
from my Lord and He has given me His good provision, I would clearly not
want to go behind your backs and do something I have forbidden you to
do. I only want to put things right as far as I can. My success is with
Allah alone. I have put my trust in Him and I turn to Him. My people!
Do not let your breach with me provoke you into doing wrong so that the
same thing happens to you as happened to the people of Nuh and the people
of Hud and the people of Salih; and the people of Lut are not far distant
from you. Ask your Lord for forgiveness and then repent to Him. My Lord
is Most Merciful, Most Loving.' (Surah Hud, 88-90)
The People of Madyan Threaten the Prophet Shu'ayb (as)
The ruling circle of those of his people who were arrogant
said, 'We will drive you out of our city, Shu'ayb, you and those who believe
along with you, unless you return to our religion.' He said, 'What, even
though we detest it? We would be inventing lies against Allah if we returned
to your religion after Allah has saved us from it. We could never return
to it unless Allah our Lord so willed. Our Lord encompasses everything
in His knowledge. We have put our trust in Allah. Our Lord, judge between
us and our people with truth. You are the best of judges.' The ruling
circle of those of his people who were disbelievers said, 'If you follow
Shu'ayb, you will definitely be lost.' (Surah al-A'raf, 88-90)
They said, 'Shu'ayb, We do not understand much of what
you say and we see you are weak among us. Were it not for your clan, we
would have stoned you. We do not hold you in high esteem!' (Surah Hud,
91)
He said, 'My people! Do you esteem my clan more than
you do Allah? You have made Him into something to cast disdainfully behind
your backs! But my Lord encompasses everything that you do! My people!
Do as you think best. That is what I am doing. You will certainly come
to know who will receive a punishment to disgrace him, and who is a liar.
So look out. I will be on the lookout with you.' (Surah Hud, 92-93)
The Destruction of Madyan
When Our command came, We rescued Shu'ayb and those who
believed along with him by a mercy from Us. The Great Blast seized hold
of those who did wrong and morning found them lying flattened in their
homes. (Surah Hud, 94)
And to Madyan We sent their brother Shu'ayb, he said,
'My people, worship Allah and look to the Last Day and do not act unjustly
on earth, corrupting it.' But they denied him so the earthquake seized
them and morning found them lying flattened in their homes. (Surat al-'Ankabut,
36-37)
as if they had never lived there at all. Yes indeed!
Away with Madyan just like Thamud! (Surah Hud, 95)
As for those who denied Shu'ayb, it was as if they had
never lived there. It was the people who denied Shu'ayb who were the lost.
So he turned away from them and said, 'My people, I transmitted My Lord's
message to you and gave you good counsel. Why should I grieve for a disbelieving
people?' (Surat al-A'raf, 92-93)
The Prophet Shu'ayb (as) is Also Sent to
the Thicket as a Messenger
The Companions of the Thicket denied the Messengers, when Shu'ayb said
of all the worlds. (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 176-180)
The Prophet Shu'ayb's (as) Efforts to Correct
Morally Degenerate People
Give full measure. Do not skimp. Weigh with a level balance. Do not diminish
people's goods and do not go about the earth, corrupting it. Have fear
of Him Who created you and the earlier creatures.' (Surat ash-Shu'ara',
181-184)
The Reply of the People of the Thicket
They said, 'You are merely someone bewitched. You are nothing but a human
being like ourselves. We think you are a liar. So make lumps from heaven
fall down on us if you are telling the truth.' (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 185-187)
The Destruction of the Thicket
The Companions of the Thicket denied the Messengers.
(Surat ash-Shu'ara', 176)
He said, 'My Lord knows best what you are doing.' They
denied him and the punishment of the Day of Shadow came down on them.
It was indeed the punishment of a terrible Day. There is certainly a Sign
in that, yet most of them are not believers. (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 188-190)
The people of the Thicket were also wrongdoers. We took
revenge on them as well. They are both beside a well-beaten track. (Surat
al-Hijr, 78-79)
THE STORY OF THE PROPHET Musa (AS) AND
THE PROPHET HARUN (AS)
We recite to you with truth some news of Musa and Pharaoh for people
who believe. (Surat al-Qasas, 3)
The Tribe of Israel in Egypt
We recite to you with truth some news of Musa and Pharaoh for people
who believe. Pharaoh exalted himself arrogantly in the land and divided
its people into camps, oppressing one group of them by slaughtering their
sons and letting their women live. He was one of the corrupters. We desired
to show kindness to those who were oppressed in the land and to make them
leaders and make them inheritors and establish them firmly in the land
and to show Pharaoh and Haman and their troops the very thing that they
were fearing from them. (Surat al-Qasas, 3-6)
The Birth of the Prophet Musa (as) and Allah's Promise
We revealed to Musa's mother, 'Suckle him and then when you fear for
him cast him into the sea. Do not fear or grieve; We will return him to
you and make him one of the Messengers.' The family of Pharaoh picked
him up so that he might be an enemy and a source of grief to them. Certainly
Pharaoh and Haman and their troops were in the wrong. The wife of Pharaoh
said, 'A source of delight for me and for you; do not kill him. It may
well be that he will be of use to us or perhaps we could adopt him as
a son.' They were not aware. Musa's mother felt a great emptiness in her
heart and she almost gave him away; only We fortified her heart so that
she would be one of the believers. She said to his sister, 'Go after him.'
And she kept an eye on him from afar and they were not aware. And We had
before forbidden foster-mothers for him, so she said: Shall I show you
a household who will rear him for you and take care of him? That is how
We returned him to his mother so that she might delight her eyes and feel
no grief and so that she would know that Allah's promise is true. But
most of them do not know this. And when he reached his full strength and
maturity, We gave him judgement and knowledge. That is how We recompense
good-doers. (Surat al-Qasas, 7-14)
The Prophet Musa (as) is Involved in an Incident in the City
He entered the city at a time when its inhabitants were unaware and found
two men fighting there - one from his party and the other from his enemy.
The one from his party asked for his support against the other from his
enemy. So Musa hit him, dealing him a fatal blow. He said, 'This is part
of Satan's handiwork. He truly is an outright and misleading enemy.' He
said, 'My Lord, I have wronged myself. Forgive me.' So He forgave him.
He is the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful. He said, 'My Lord, because
of Your blessing to me, I will never be a supporter of evildoers.' Morning
found him in the city, fearful and on his guard. Then suddenly the man
who had sought his help the day before, shouted for help from him again.
Musa said to him, 'You are clearly a misguided man.' But when he was about
to grab the man who was their common enemy, he said, 'Musa! Do you want
to kill me just as you killed a person yesterday? You only want to be
a tyrant in the land; you do not want to be a reformer.' (Surat al-Qasas,
15-19)
The Prophet Musa's (as) Departure from Egypt
A man came running from the furthest part of the city, saying, 'Musa,
the Council are conspiring to kill you, so leave! I am someone who brings
you good advice.' So he left there fearful and on his guard, saying, 'My
Lord, rescue me from the people of the wrongdoers!' (Surat al-Qasas, 20-21)
The Prophet Musa's (as) Prayer to Allah for Help
When turned his face in the direction of Madyan, he said, 'Hopefully
my Lord will guide me to the right way.' When he arrived at the water
of Madyan, he found a crowd of people drawing water there. Standing apart
from them, he found two women, holding back their sheep. He said, 'What
are you two doing here?' They said, 'We cannot draw water until the shepherds
have driven off their sheep. You see our father is a very old man.' So
he drew water for them and then withdrew into the shade and said, 'My
Lord, I am truly in need of any good You have in store for me.' (Surat
al-Qasas, 22-24)
The Days of the Prophet Musa (as) in Madyan
One of them came walking shyly up to him and said, 'My father invites
you so that he can pay you your wage for drawing water for us.' When he
came to him and told him the whole story he said, 'Have no fear, you have
escaped from wrongdoing people.' One of them said, 'Hire him, father.
The best person to hire is someone strong and trustworthy.' He said, 'I
would like to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine on condition
that you work for me for eight full years. If you complete ten, that is
up to you. I do not want to be hard on you. You will find me, Allah willing,
to be one of the righteous.' He said, 'That is agreed between me and you.
Whichever of the two terms I fulfil, there should be no bad feeling towards
me. Allah is Guardian over what we say.' (Surat al-Qasas, 25-28)
The Prophet Musa's (as) Departure from Madyan
When Musa had fulfilled the appointed term and had set off with his family,
he noticed a fire from one side of the Mount. He said to his family, 'Stay
here, I can see a fire. Hopefully I will bring you back some news from
it or a burning branch from the fire so that you will be able to warm
yourselves.' (Surat al-Qasas, 29)
The Prophet Musa (as) is Endowed with Prophethood
But when he reached it a voice called out to him from
the right hand side of the valley in the part which was full of blessing,
from out of the bush: 'Musa, I am Allah, the Lord of all the worlds. (Surat
al-Qasas, 30)
I am your Lord. Take off your sandals. You are in the
holy valley of Tuwa. I have chosen you, so listen well to what is revealed.
I am Allah. There is no god but Me, so worship Me and perform prayer to
remember Me. The Hour is coming but I have concealed it so that every
self can be repaid for its efforts. Do not let those who do not believe
in it and follow their whims and desires debar you from it or you will
be destroyed. (Surah Ta Ha, 12-16)
The Prophet Musa's (as) Miracles
What is that in your right hand, Musa?' He said, 'It
is my staff. I lean on it and beat down leaves for my sheep with it and
have other uses for it.' He said, 'Throw it down, Musa.' He threw it down
and suddenly it was a slithering snake. (Surah Ta Ha, 17-20)
Throw down your staff!' Then when he he saw it slithering
like a snake he turned and fled and did not turn back again. 'Musa, approach
and have no fear! You are one of those who are secure. (Surat al-Qasas,
31)
Throw down your staff.' Then when he saw it slithering
like a snake he turned and fled and did not turn back again. 'Have no
fear, Musa. In My Presence the Messengers have no fear. (Surat an-Naml,
10)
He said, 'Take hold of it and have no fear. We will return
it to its original form. Put your hand under your arm and press it to
your side. It will emerge pure white yet quite unharmed, another Sign.
(Surah Ta Ha, 21-22)
Put your hand inside your shirt front. It will emerge
pure white yet quite unharmed. And hug your arms to your sides to still
your fear. These are two proofs from your Lord for Pharaoh and his ruling
circle. They are a deviant people.' (Surat al-Qasas, 32)
In this way We show you some of Our greatest Signs. (Surah
Ta Ha, 23)
The Prophet Musa (as) is Appointed to Communicate
the Message of Religion to Pharaoh
Go to Pharaoh. He has overstepped the bounds.' (Surah
Ta Ha, 24)
'Go to Pharaoh - he has overstepped the limits. (Surat
an-Nazi'at, 17)
The Prophet Musa's (as) Prayer to Allah for Help
He said, 'O Lord, expand my breast for me. (Surah Ta
Ha, 25)
He said, 'My Lord, I killed one of them and I am afraid
they will kill me. (Surat al-Qasas, 33)
He said, 'My Lord, I fear they will deny me. (Surat ash-Shu'ara',
12)
and make my task easy for me. Loosen the knot in my tongue
so that they will understand my words. Assign me a helper from my family,
my brother Harun. (Surah Ta Ha, 26-30)
and my brother Harun is more eloquent than me so send
him with me to support me and back me up. I am afraid they will call me
a liar.' (Surat al-Qasas, 34)
Strengthen my back by him and let him share in my task,
so that we can glorify You much and remember You much, (Surah Ta Ha, 31-34)
They said, 'Our Lord, we are afraid that he might persecute
us or overstep the bounds.' (Surah Ta Ha, 45)
They hold a wrong action against me and I fear that they may kill me.'
He said, 'By no means! Go, both of you, with Our Signs. We will certainly
be together with you, listening. (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 14-15)
Allah's Reply to the Prophet Musa's (as) Prayer
He said, 'Have no fear. I will be with you, All-Hearing
and All-Seeing. (Surah Ta Ha, 46)
He said, 'We will reinforce you with your brother and
by Our Signs will give you both authority, so that they will not be able
to lay a hand on you. You and those who follow you will be the victors.'
(Surat al-Qasas, 35)
He said, 'Your request has been granted, Musa We were
gracious to you another time. (Surah Ta Ha, 36-37)
I have chosen you for Myself. Go, you and your brother,
with My Signs and do not slacken in remembering Me. Go to Pharaoh; he
has overstepped the bounds. But speak to him with gentle words so that
hopefully he will pay heed or show some fear.' (Surah Ta Ha, 41-44)
The Prophet Musa (as) and the Prophet Harun (as)
Call Pharaoh to Religion
Go to Pharaoh and say, "We are the Messenger of the Lord
of all the worlds. (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 16)
Go to him and say, "We are your Lord's Messengers so
send the tribe of Israel away with us and do not punish them. We have
brought you a Sign from your Lord. Peace be upon those who follow the
guidance. It has been revealed to us that punishment is for him who denies
the truth and turns away."' (Surah Ta Ha, 47-48)
And say: "Do you resolve to purify yourself. I will guide
you to your Lord so that you may fear Him?"' (Surat an-Nazi'at, 18-19)
The First Reaction of Pharaoh
He said, 'Did we not bring you up among us as a child and did you not
spend many years of your life among us? Yet you did the deed you did and
were ungrateful.' He said, 'At the time I did it I was one of the misguided
and so I fled from you when I was in fear of you but my Lord gave me right
judgement and made me one of the Messengers. And anyway you can only reproach
me with this favour because you made the tribe of Israel into slaves!'
(Surat ash-Shu'ara', 18-22)
The Prophet Musa's (as) Communication
of Religion to Pharaoh
Pharaoh said, 'What is the Lord of all the worlds?' He
said, 'The Lord of the heavens and the earth and everything between them
if you knew for sure.' (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 23-24)
He said, 'Your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers,
the previous peoples.' (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 26)
He said, 'The Lord of the East and the West and everything
between them if you used your intellect.' (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 28)
He said, 'Our Lord is He Who gives each thing its created
form and then guides it.' He said, 'What about the previous generations?'
He said, 'Knowledge of them is with my Lord in a Book. My Lord does not
misplace nor does He forget.' It is He Who made the earth a cradle for
you and threaded pathways for you through it and sent down water from
the sky by which We have brought forth various different types of plants.
Eat and pasture your cattle. Certainly there are Signs in that for people
of sound intellect. From it We created you, to it We will return you,
and from it We will bring you forth a second time. (Surah Ta Ha, 50-55)
Pharaoh's Insolence
He said to those around him, 'Are you listening?' (Surat
ash-Shu'ara', 25)
He said, 'This Messenger, who has been sent to you, is
mad.' (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 27)
He said, 'If you take any god other than me, I will certainly
throw you into prison.' (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 29)
Miracles the Prophet Musa (as) Performed
He said, 'Even if I were to bring you something undeniable?' He said,
'Produce it then if you are someone telling the truth.' So He threw down
his staff and there it was, unmistakably a snake. And he drew out his
hand and there it was, pure white to those who looked. (Surat ash-Shu'ara',
30-33)
Pharaoh Accuses the Prophet Musa (as)
of Practicing Magic
He said to the High Council round about him, 'This certainly
is a skilled magician who desires by his magic to expel you from your
land, so what do you recommend?' They said, 'Detain him and his brother
and send out marshals to the cities, to bring you all the skilled magicians.'
(Surat ash-Shu'ara', 34-37)
He said, 'Have you come to us to expel us from our land
by means of your magic, Musa? (Surah Ta Ha, 57)
Pharaoh's Intention to Confront the
Prophet Musa (as) with Magicians
We will bring you magic to match it. So fix a time between
us and you which neither we nor you will fail to keep at a place where
we can meet halfway.' He said, 'Your time is the day of the Festival.
The people should gather in the morning.' (Surah Ta Ha, 58-59)
So the magicians were assembled for a meeting on a specified
day. The people were asked, 'Are you all assembled. (Surat ash-Shu'ara',
38-39)
When the magicians came, they said to Pharaoh, 'Will
we be rewarded if we are the winners?' He said, 'Yes, and in that case
you will be among those brought near.' (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 41-42)
The Confrontation of the Prophet Musa (as)
with the Magicians
They said, 'Musa, will you throw first or shall we be
the ones to throw?' (Surat al-A'raf, 115)
Musa said to them, 'Throw whatever it is you are going
to throw!' (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 43)
The Magic of the Magicians
He said, 'You throw.' And when they threw, they cast
a spell on the people's eyes and caused them to feel great fear of them.
They produced an extremely powerful magic. (Surat al-A'raf, 116)
He said, 'No, you throw!' And suddenly their ropes and
staffs appeared to him, by their magic, to be slithering about. Musa experienced
in himself a feeling of alarm. We said, 'Have no fear. You will have the
upper hand. (Surah Ta Ha, 66-68)
When they had thrown, Musa said, 'What you have brought
is magic. Allah will certainly prove it false. Allah does not uphold the
actions of corrupters.' Allah confirms the Truth by His words, even though
the evildoers hate it. (Surah Yunus, 81-82)
The Prophet Musa's (as) Superiority over the Magicians
Throw down what is in your right hand. It will swallow
up their handiwork. Their handiwork is just a magician's trick. Magicians
do not prosper wherever they go.' (Surah Ta Ha, 69)
We revealed to Musa, 'Throw down your staff.' And it
immediately swallowed up what they had forged. So the Truth took place
and what they did was shown to be false. They were defeated then and there,
transformed into humbled men. (Surat al-A'raf, 117-119)
The Magicians' Acceptance of Faith and Pharaoh's Anger
The magicians threw themselves down in prostration. They
said, 'We believe in the Lord of Harun and Musa.' Pharaoh said, 'Do you
believe in him before I have authorised you? He is your chief, the one
who taught you magic. I will cut off your hands and feet alternately and
have you crucified on palm trunks. Then you will know for certain which
of us has the harsher and longer lasting punishment.' They said, 'We will
never prefer you to the Clear Signs which have come to us nor to Him Who
brought us into being. Decide on any judgment you like. Your jurisdiction
only covers the life of this world. We have believed in our Lord so that
He may forgive us for our mistakes and for the magic which you forced
us to perform. Allah is better and longer lasting.' (Surah Ta Ha, 70-73)
We remain hopeful that our Lord will forgive us our mistakes
for being the first of the believers.' (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 51)
You are only avenging yourself on us because we believed
in our Lord's Signs when they came to us. Our Lord, pour down steadfastness
upon us and take us back to You as Muslims.' (Surat al-A'raf, 126)
Pharaoh's Persistence in Insolence
But then he rallied and called out, saying, 'I am your
Lord Most High!' (Surat an-Nazi'at, 23-24)
No one believed in Musa except for a few of his people
out of fear that Pharaoh, and the elders, would persecute them. Pharaoh
was high and mighty in the land. He was one of the profligate. (Surah
Yunus, 83)
Pharaoh said, 'Let me kill Musa and let him call upon
his Lord! I am afraid that he may change your religion and bring about
corruption in the land.' Musa said, 'I seek refuge in my Lord and your
Lord from every proud man who does not believe in the Day of Reckoning.'
(Surah Ghafir, 26-27)
The Man in the Palace Keeps His Faith Concealed
A man among Pharaoh's people who believed, but kept his
faith concealed, said, 'Are you going to kill a man for saying "My Lord
is Allah" when he has brought you Clear Signs from your Lord? If he is
telling a lie, be it on his own head. But if he is telling the truth,
then some of what he is promising you will certainly happen to you. Allah
does not guide any unbridled inveterate liar. My people! The kingdom is
yours today, as masters in the land, but who will help us against Allah's
violent force, if it comes upon us?' Pharoah said, 'I only show you what
I see myself and I only guide you to the path of rectitude.' The man who
believed said, 'My people! I fear for you a day like that of the Confederates,
the same as happened to the people of Nuh and 'Ad and Thamud and those
who followed after them. Allah does not want any injustice for His servants.
My people! I fear for you the Day of Calling Out, the Day when you will
turn your backs in flight, having no one to protect you from Allah. Whoever
Allah misguides will have no guide. Yusuf brought you the Clear Signs
before, but you never stopped doubting what he brought to you to the extent
that when he died, you said, "Allah will never send another Messenger
after him."That is how Allah misguides those who are unbridled and full
of doubt.' Those who argue about the Signs of Allah without any authority
coming to them do something hateful in the sight of Allah and in the sight
of the people who believe.That is how Allah seals up the heart of every
arrogant oppressor. (Surah Ghafir, 28-35)
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